Salut to Salluit

Well we're back in Kingston and slowly re-adjusting to life down South.

Our last few days in Salluit were amazing! We spent a very enjoyable Thursday at Pigiurvik Primary School, teaching a class we called "Being Healthy". We talked about basic nutrition, hygiene, and the importance of staying active. A favourite activity was "Nikki says", a variation on Simon says where we got the students to do jumping jacks and skips and then feel their hearts to show that it was beating faster. We also brought back the make-your-own trail mix that had been such a hit at the high school. The kids are taught in their native language up to grade 3, when they stream into either English or French, so throughout the day, Uqittuq, one of the counsellors at the school, worked with us and translated our lesson into Inuktitut. Despite the language barrier, it was great to get to know some of the younger kids. While we were in the halls, one little girl stared at our trail mix and exclaimed "That looks delicious!".

On Friday, we spent the day decorating cupcakes with the Ikusik kids. It was great to see all the classes one last time. We took so many pictures! At the end of the day, Kate asked us to come upstairs for a "staff meeting", where the teachers surprised us with a goodbye party! They gave us each a lovely card signed by all the staff and an ivory necklace and earring set (carved by one of the teachers, Richard). We both had tears in our eyes as we said the first of many thank yous and goodbyes.

After school, it was back to Monique's to finish preparing for the dances that night. The first one, for grades 5 & 6, was so great! The younger kids were much less shy about getting up and dancing, and the whole dance we led a solid crew of kids through some of our favourite moves. We had some senior kids volunteer to help us out, and we were so happy to see them dancing and encouraging the younger kids too! After the grade 5s & 6s had left, the older kids came to get their groove on. We were so happy and proud to see everyone coming out of their shells and hitting the dance floor! Favourite songs of the night included the macarena (or the MACARONI!!! as Maggie called it) and Wavin' Flag, which Heidi had choreographed a dance to. When the dance finally ended at 2am, volunteers and students stayed with us for a few more hours in the lobby, talking, taking pictures, and saying goodbye.

After a few hours of sleep and a very hectic pack, we arrived at the airport the next morning. To our total amazement, a group of Ikusik kids had walked an hour out to the airport to say one last goodbye. We were so touched! What a way to finish our project. Our last view of Salluit was a group of wonderful, amazing kids waving goodbye as our plane took off.

We are both so thankful that we got to spend those incredible weeks up North. Our experience in Salluit was one of the most challenging, eye-opening, BEST things we've ever done. Salluit definitely taught us just as much as we taught it.

Thank you so much to all the amazing people who have helped us along the way!

We saved the BEST week for last!

It's our last week here and it's been one of the busiest so far! On Monday and Tuesday we finished our last unit at Ikusik. We were sad to teach our last class, but it wasn't goodbye for good - we'll be back all day Friday to do decorate-your-own cupcakes with the students. Heidi's also going to teach hip hop a few more times before we leave (gotta get the kids ready for the big night on Friday...).

On Tuesday night, we went up to the Rehab center for dinner and got to know the 6 boys that currently live there. They were kind of shy, but they warmed up to us after a while. We watched them play ping pong and a card game named Hockey (only in Salluit...). This morning, we went back and taught them a lesson on physical and sexual health, and we were really pleased with how attentive and curious they were. They listened well and asked us questions. This afternoon, we sat in on a Rehab staff meeting and shared a lesson we had prepared for anger, grief, and conflict resolution. The staff are great and look forward to working with QHO in the coming years.

Tonight was the last night we got to lead the Walking Club, so we prepared a little surprise for the two ladies who have come faithfully every week. We made carrot cake and peanut butter cookies, and we all enjoyed them with tea after our workout. Both ladies, who are both called Susie, have been great friends to us in Salluit and we are sad to leave them!

We can't really believe how fast the time has gone up here. Walking to the Co-Op today, we realized how at home we feel and how much we're going to miss this little town! At least we'll go out with a bang.. the dance this Friday promises to be a wild time!

Off to live our last days of Northern life to the fullest,

H & N

But oh... those Northern nights!

What a great week! We were busy teaching Substances this week and decided to try something new with our lessons... we made Powerpoints to teach 2 of our lessons and with another we did a fun Jeopardy Review of all 4 weeks of material. The funniest was when we asked our $250 question for Sexual Health, "How many sperm does it take to fertilize 1 egg?", and Maggie shouted out confidently "1000!" Clearly we had some re-explaining to do! It's been so fun for us this week because we are really seeing the progress we've made with the kids in terms of them wanting to participate and ask questions. We also got some great feedback from teachers, which is really rewarding.

After a weekend without much contact with the community, we were motivated to get further involved with the Inuit of Salluit. We attended church (all in Inuktitut) on Wednesday night, and had a meeting at the Rehab Center Thursday morning. We hadn't really had the time to visit the Rehab Center before, but we are so excited we squeezed it in! It is a safe rehabilitation center for kids 12 to 17 who are young offenders.

Next Wednesday, we're going to teach them a lesson on Puberty, Sex and Dating, and we are teaching a second lesson to the staff about Anger Management and Conflict Resolution to be taught to the kids at a later date. We're pretty excited because the staff at the center was great- so enthusiastic about the project and welcoming. They invited us for dinner and activity with the kids Tuesday evening to give us the chance to get to know them a bit before we teach them the following day!

On Friday night we got our butts kicked at Rock Band and Ping-Pong at the Youth Center and on Saturday night we ran a school dance. We had SO much fun! It was the first time that they've had a dance where the kids actually danced (of course Heidi and I were teaching them some sweet moves- shopping cart, Frosh dance, high kicks etc). We had a solid group of girls who danced the entire 4 hours! Fortunately we had bought a foam Queen's Football- and used it as a prize to bribe the boys to hit the D-floor. Once we got them out there they were loving it- and Heidi even ran through the Hip-Hop routine she had been teaching with some of the boys from her "crew". At the end of the night, everyone was smiling (the boy that won the prize said "it was one of the best nights ever!" and they've convinced the principal to have another dance this Friday before we leave!

We have a busy week ahead (our last week, we can't believe it!)... teaching Monday and Tuesday at Ikusik, Wednesday at the Rehab Center, Thursday at the primary school and back to Ikusik on Friday for a Decorate-Your-Own Cupcake Extravaganza with all of the kids as a final farewell. We are so sad to leave, but know we still have some exciting days before we head South!

That's it from Salluit!

xoxo- The Dancing Queen's

Nunavik News

Hello all,

It's been a lovely long weekend up North. We had four days off in total, and spent our time working on our lessons, socializing with the teachers, and checking out the land. Yesterday, we went on a 15km hike with some teachers, which was so cool! Even though we've been here over 3 weeks, it was our first time really out in the tundra. We hiked through mud, snow, and grass all the way to the top of a hill where we could look out along Hudson straight. It was so beautiful! On our way back, we left the hills to walk on the ice instead, and returned to Salluit via the still-frozen bay.

In the next few days, we are hoping to meet Kaudjuak, the grandmother of a Secondary 4 student named Paul. Kaudjuak speaks no English, but we're hoping she will show us her throat singing, which is an Inuit art form. It would be such a great opportunity to meet her!

Our lessons have been going well. The most frustrating thing for us is the lack of participation on the part of the students. We're trying to be as creative as possible with the lessons that we plan, making them interesting, visual, and interactive so we don't lose the attention of the kids. For the juniors we even made a board game to reinforce our bullying and anger management lessons. With the older kids when we taught about anger, stress, and grief, they especially liked making stress balls out of balloons and corn starch (although it got kind of messy!). Another fun lesson is goal setting and leadership, where we have students set goals for the coming week, month and year. We kept their papers, and we hope that next year's QHOers will give them back so the students can see if their goals were met.

Last week, we were invited to join the high school volleyball practice. It was so fun! The kids were MUCH better than us (well, much better than me), practicing their jump serves, blocks, and spikes. It was so cool for us to see the students out of the classroom - they were so much more lively! We were impressed with not only their skill but their great team spirit and leadership; they were constantly encouraging each other and us, giving high fives and clapping.

On Wednesday, we will start our final (!) unit at Ikusik. We're teaching about substance abuse, covering things like drugs, alcohol, and smoking. Even though there is no official place to buy alcohol here, it is very prominent, along with a variety of drugs and cigarettes.

Next weekend we are also planning a dance for the secondary kids on Saturday. We're going to organize it and have some of the older students help as it is going to be a fundraiser for the graduating class. Other than that we're also looking forward to an International Cuisine Night tomorrow for Girl's Night, possibly assisting with some further volleyball tryouts this week and working on some new routines for our aerobics classes with the Walking Club!

That's all the news from Nunavik!

xoxo,

H & N

Spring has sprung in Salluit!

Bonjour!

Sorry it has taken so long to post again - every day is busy here!

We're finished our physical health unit now and are on to Sex Ed and Puberty. We've been getting some really positive feedback from the teachers and (in their own way) the kids, which is really encouraging! One of our favourite memories from last week was when we were teaching a body image class to some of the more senior girls. Two girls, who seemed totally uninterested and unwilling to participate during the lesson, came and found us at recess and asked us for help filling out the worksheet we'd given them. It was great to talk to them about body image and self esteem and feel like it was getting across. Today, we taught a puberty lesson to a Janie's class. They were a bit giggly and embarrassed when we taught, but they must have learned something because Monique, who teaches the other grade 6 class, she told us that her students kept asking "When are Heidi & Nikki going to teach US about sex??".

Last weekend, Kate and Danny offered to take us out snowmobiling. Unfortunately, Nikki got food poisoning at the last minute and spent the day in bed, but I was lucky enough to go out with the teachers. It was my first time on a snowmobile, but now I'm totally hooked! Followed by Nanook and Trey, Kate's two huskies, we drove along the frozen bay all the way to the mussel hole. It's an hole in the middle of the bay that never freezes because of the tides. We picked some mussels and I even tried a raw one - kind of gross but mostly bearable.

One thing we've been doing very well up here is eating! Even though getting good fresh produce is a big problem in most Northern communities, you can generally find decent stuff at the co-op if you know the right days to go. Monique has given us full run of her well stocked kitchen and pantry, so we've been making everything from hummus to fajitas to oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

This week it has been a lot warmer and the snow has almost completely melted in a matter of days. On Tuesday, it was so gorgeous and sunny that Nikki and I couldn't resist the urge to go for a little hike at lunch hour. We walked up the hill behind our house and looked out over the town and the bay. We're still trying to get out to see the Northern lights, but it has been overcast the last few nights. Unfortunately, our chances are running out since it's staying light out until almost midnight now! Even though we'd be upset if we never got to see the lights, we're happy that spring is in the air. The teachers told us today that we can look forward to a bonfire in the mountains in the next couple of weeks! We'll be sure to keep you updated :)

Bissous,

Heidi & Nikki.

Ps. GO HABS GO!!!!

So much to say from sunny Salluit

Hi!

Things have been picking up here! Yesterday was our first day of teaching and it was definitely the best day yet! Our first unit is physical health, so we're covering topics like nutrition, body image, and diabetes. For nutrition, the kids loved make-your-own trail mix, so we hope they'll choose that as an alternative to the chips and pop that are so common here. I even taught a dance class for the fitness lesson! They especially love hip hop, so starting tomorrow, I'll be leading a drop-in class every Friday after school. Louisa, the community wellness worker, came and helped us teach a few of the lessons. She was so helpful in translating some words into Inuktitut, so we really felt like we got our message across. She'll be back to help us throughout the week!

We've also got a little more involved with extra-curriculars. Monday night we tried out the Salluit Walking Club, which gives a good workout to women of the village. Tonight, we'll be leading the stretches at the end of the night. Tuesday was Girl's Night, so we helped Kate make fondue with ten girls. We had a lot of fun trying cheese, vegetable, meat, and even chocolate fondue! For most of the girls, this was the first time they'd tried something like that, and it was a big hit (especially the chocolate!). Wednesday morning, we helped out at the Breakfast Club, where students can come eat cereal, toast, fruit and yogurt before the school day starts. It was nice to see their smiling faces. We even got to meet some of the primary kids for the first time - so cute!

Besides that, we've been playing soccer and badminton with some of the teachers, and trying to keep up with the Habs mania here - EVERYONE is a Montreal Canadians fan! There are always things to keep us busy and we're having such a great time.

This morning, Nikki got up early to walk all the way to the top of the hill before school started. We wanted to take a picture of the village in the morning light to post here, but wouldn't you know, as soon as she got to the top, the camera died. We managed to find a picture on the Internet though. Monique's house (also pictured) is just cut out of the shot, but it should be on the far left. The long blue building is Ikusik Secondary, where we spend most of our time. We also posted a picture of the two of us from this weekend, when we went for a hike. Check them out! It took us 45 minutes to upload everything, so you better appreciate them!

Love from the North,
H&N.

News from the North

Just got in from a nice hike in the mountains with some of the teachers. It was so nice to get out and see the village from above, with all of the different coloured houses and the bay off in the distance.

We've been busy the past couple days meeting with teachers, mostly at the secondary school Ikusik (which we discovered means "elbow" in Inuktitut, and is also the shape of the school) and we've also made contacts at the health center, with a nurse and the community health worker, Louisa. We are super excited because Louisa is going to teach with us, at least once or twice per week, and we are also hoping to have her translate some of our junior lessons into Inuktitut so that they can be used in the primary school.

We're also getting involved with some extra-curriculars this week at school. We will be working the breakfast club 2 days this week, leading the women's fitness club one evening, helping with Girl's Night and Heidi might even teach a Hip-Hop class (which we hear is one of the kids favourite activities!).

We'll be sure to keep you all updated as our project unfolds, and good luck to all the other QHO northerners!

Tavvauvusi (goodbye to you all),

Heidi and Nikki

We made it!

Salut from Salluit!

After an night in the Montreal airport, five take-offs and landings, one unexpected turnaround, some uncertainty, and 22 hours of travelling, we've made it to Salluit, safe and sound. Kate, who is the English teacher at the high school and who has been our main contact throughout the year, was at the airport to meet us on her quad. She took us to meet Monique, who will be our host for our time here, and we got settled in immediately.

Salluit is beautiful. The surrounding area is mostly tundra - no trees but plenty of rock and snow covered hills. It overlooks a bay, which still has lots of ice. Our first view of the village was coming from the airport. As we drove down the hill, we could see all of the 60 or so brightly coloured houses that make up the community. Only about 1,200 people call Salluit home, but there seems to be plenty of activity. As we walked to the school this morning, we were greeted by people on their porches and kids running and tobogganing.

We've met many of the enthusiatic teachers at the school, and are looking forward to getting our health lessons planned and under way. We hope to begin teaching by the start of next week, and it seems like there are lots of opportunities to get involved in the community as well. There is a nursing station at the top of the hill, as well as a rehab center, two schools, and a kids club. We're also looking forward to taking shifts at the breakfast club which happens every morning at the high school and helping Kate with her girl's night for teenage girls next Tuesday.

There seems to be lots to do, so we better get to it!

From Salluit with love,
Heidi & Nikki.